Fair Grove FBLA (Future Business Leader of America) and DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) organized an event called Cooper Christmas Celebration that took place on Saturday, December 7, in the Fair Grove high school cafeteria and raised $8,341 dollars.
This is a first year event that was thought up by a couple of FBLA and DECA students who came together to support Cooper Roy and have all the proceeds go to him and his family.
The Cooper Christmas Celebration featured a variety of activities designed to bring the community together for the holidays and to raise funds for Roy and his family. People who attend could grab a bite to eat, participate in students auctions, and bid on items in the silent auction.
Brylee Mallard (10), one of the organizers mentioned, “There is also a live auction of Cooper´s Helpers. These are students who have volunteered their time to do sports lessons, house chores, or provide a meal in order to raise money for Cooper.”
Mallard continued, “We have a large number of students involved, some of these students are Kellen Lair (12), Ashton Bell (12), and Brooke Daniels (12).” While Lair auctioned himself for a video game session or football training, Daniels and Bell were auctioned off together for basketball lessons.
This project took a ton of hardwork and dedication between Mallard and Aislynn Starks (11). Starks mentioned the planning process and what they went through to make this event even possible.
Starks stated, “The planning process was decently organized with lots of running around. But there were lots of last minute things that showed up.”
Starks continued, “I would say it took about 2-3 months to get the event planned but there were still things the day of that we had to gather together. But a lot of the planning took place the day of because of how large the event ended up being.”
The Cooper Christmas Celebration was able to come together as a community and give back to the Roy family. Aislynn shared her favorite part of the Cooper Christmas Celebration was, “Getting to see the community coming together for Cooper and seeing how much everyone was enjoying their time.”